Studio De Schutter - Lighting Design

The exhibition stand for the "Office of the Future / Flexibility" at the Frankfurter Fair for Paperworld 2019 was designed and curated by the architectural firm MTTR. The brief to Studio De Schutter was to consult the architects on the lighting, and co-develop a lighting concept in line with their vision and the fair in general.

At Studio De Schutter, we always start our projects with understanding the architectural aim and vision, we knew we had to implement the lighting in a way that the booth could stand out on a crowded fair. Our goal was to give the booth a noticeable presence to be visible from afar. We understand lighting design as designing perception. To design perception is to design the visual experience. To achieve this we did the following:

Enhancing the view from afar by adding lighting to the curtain rail, creating a sculptural yet visually impactful effect. We opted to use cool white light (6000K) to reinforce the whiteness of the curtain and to enhance the contrast with the black surrounding (black floor and ceiling).

As a second lighting layer, we used spotlights to softly illuminate the curtains. The lighting density increases in entrance areas to the booth, to guide the view and create a visual hierarchy. When planning and arranging the spotlights, attention was given to the beam angles and inclination of the lighting. Well-planned lighting takes glare control and shadow casts into account.

In contrast to the cool white lighting for the sculptural curtains, all circulation areas are illuminated with warm white light. Visitors, speakers, exhibitors and their products were illuminated by spotlights with warm white lighting. Track lighting at the break-out booths provide exhibitors with the adjustability they need.

The lighting concept for Paperworld 2019 shows that designing lighting is to design perception. A lighting concept can be simple and streamlined yet create a clear added value and enhance architecture.